To be fair, the pressure on Jeff Fisher and Les Snead began the January night the NFL returned the Rams to Los Angeles. Thursday night’s draft is just another turn of the vise screw.
With that, here’s something to calm the nerves of either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz, whichever one becomes the first pick of the draft and the first face of the new era of the LA Rams: You’ve got it easy.
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Yes, you could fail. But it won’t all be your failure — this is in the laps of Fisher and Snead, the guys in charge of getting the Rams and the NFL to reclaim the city.
The new quarterback, the ransom for all those draft picks, is just part of it. The roster on hand now and under construction is just part of it. The Disneyland-esque stadium being built in Inglewood is just part of it.
So are the decline of the Lakers, the retirement of Kobe, the imminent closing of the Clippers’ window, the Dodgers’ stalled return to glory, the Angels’ sputtering attempts to buy a World Series, the continued overlooking of the Kings’ excellence, plus the rises and falls of USC football and UCLA basketball.
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The teams that held, or tried to hold, the hearts of LA fans, could all be eclipsed by the Rams’ arrival.
The chance to own the town is right there for the taking. It won’t take long to find out if Fisher and Snead are up to taking it.
Fans back in St. Louis and Tennessee and all over the NFL, are saying, “Yeah, we’ve heard that before.’’
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Fisher’s record in St. Louis is known all too well: win totals of seven, seven, six and seven. Also known all too well: six winning seasons out of 21 as a head coach. Snead knew what he was getting when he won a bidding war for Fisher in 2012. That’s his guy.
Rams fans at their previous home rolled their eyes as the team kept bumping its head on the ceiling. LA Rams fans won’t be rolling their eyes if the big, expensive draft pick doesn’t pay instant dividends. Or if the team remains the standard for mediocrity. Or if it doesn’t give a good football reason to buy in on the new stadium in a few years.
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They’re going to roll themselves right back into the parks and beaches and every other place they found to occupy their Sunday afternoons the last two decades.
The Rams would then have thrown away a golden opportunity, a confluence of events that won’t happen again.
Fisher and Snead will pay the price.
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So as you wait to hear your name called Thursday night, Jared and Carson, know that the knot in your stomach is just a mild upset. The one your future coach and GM are trying to contain … much worse.
It started earlier, and isn’t stopping any time soon.